Day one was all about getting to Denver. The kids and I left Nashville around 2:00 pm on the most enjoyable Southwest flight I have ever been on. Our flight crew was awesome! We ended up being in the very last row of the plane, which worked out perfectly because we were right next to the bathroom and the flight attendants. Since it was rainy and stormy, we were a little delayed taking off. The flight crew instantly jumped into action to keep everyone entertained and calm. They started telling jokes over the loudspeaker and even inviting the passengers to stand up and tell jokes too. My favorite was “What do you call a nosey pepper? Jalapeño business (say it fast and it sounds like All up in yo business).” Ha! Sorry, but I’m a sucker for a silly joke!
Even though the flight was pretty bumpy, the kids were great. They are such troopers! Since we were at the back of the plane, we were the last ones off. As we passed the cockpit, I asked the flight attendant if I could take their picture in front of the open cockpit door. To my surprise, the pilot overheard us and said “We can do better than that! Come on in and have a seat!” Paddon and Paili were shocked that they not only got to look inside the cockpit, but also sit in the pilot’s seat. I want to sent a special shout out to the Southwest Flight 278 pilot and crew for going the extra mile to make this a safe and special flight for my kiddos!
After we picked up our luggage, we made our way to the rental car station to pick up the full size car we had reserved. The Enterprise agent was super friendly, which was extremely surprising given the fact that the A/C was broken in their building. I don’t know how they were keeping it together with a smile on their faces today. It was 105 degrees in Denver when we landed at 4:00 pm!! I was melting in just the 5 minutes we were in there. I don’t know how those poor employees were surviving it. That is one of the reasons I love Enterprise so much. Their employees are awesome! To further prove this point, Nicholas, the agent we were working with offered to upgrade us to an SUV for free after he heard about our trip. He made Paddon’s day! Not only did we get an SUV with 3 rows of seats (one for each of us), it’s a BRAND NEW vehicle with only 350 miles! The kids have agreed that they can definitely survive the 2,500+ miles in the car now.
Once we were settled in the car, we took off for Arvada, CO to meet my friend, Kisha, for dinner. Visiting with far away friends is one of the best perks of road trips. I haven’t seen Kisha since we were roommates in Haiti together back in December 2013. Kisha has been living in the Denver area for 5 years and suggested a favorite local restaurant. Beau Jo’s is an authentic Colorado-style pizza place. I didn’t even know there was such a thing as Colorado-style pizza! It was definitely different, but we all gave it a thumb’s up. The crust is made with local honey instead of sugar and is kneaded thicker and mounded into “mountain peaks” along the edges. The pizzas are served with a bottle of local honey to drizzle over the extra pizza. We weren’t sure about honey on pizza at first, but Paili and I loved it. Paddon wasn’t completely sold, but he’s not a very adventurous eater.
After dinner we said goodbye to Kisha and headed north to Loveland to spend the night in Paddon’s favorite hotel…the Residence Inn. He loves everything about it from the pool to couch area to the breakfast in the morning. I love it because I can use my Marriott points to pay for it! To make the end of the day even better, we were just in time to watch the sun set behind the Rocky Mountains. Wow! Simply amazing! The entire sky lit up in beautiful oranges, pinks, and purples. I could get used to this view!
Now we’re off to get a good night’s sleep so we can start our longest driving day tomorrow. Goodnight, everyone!
